Formed from Ancient Knowledge
by sanctum-c
Summary: Tifa reflects on the day's events - and what she found while guiding two SOLDIERs up to the Mount Nibel Mako reactor.


Strange day. The evening seemed lifeless and meandering once Tifa got back from the mountain, her attention drifting from the mundane present to the curious and novel. She stopped to peek out into the night on the way to bed; lights still burned within the Shinra mansion. Sephiroth was awake.

She settled into bed, tried to focus on her book and failed.

What had she expected from Shinra's star, the original SOLDIER, the war hero? Not something easily articulated, but also not the man who arrived in town. He remained cold and distant since Tifa's first encounter with him bright and early in the morning. Nor was the other SOLDIER – Zack – much like she expected either. Too flippant, too unconcerned. Focused more on resolution and getting back to whatever past-times he had back East. Not keen on staying, but not someone who could seemingly stand up to Sephiroth.

Sephiroth was not overbearing; he said little at any point during the day, seemingly somehow dazed, gaze forever drifting to focus on the mountain peak. It would be easy to assume this morning he also wanted his mission over, but there was no urgency to his movements. Nothing but a grim sense of inevitability.

For a star he seemed off. He did not enjoy his fame, did not understand how it appealed to others. It took significant wheedling from Zack to pose for a photo (surely those kinds of requests were normal for him? People loved to stare at his image in magazines and on television. Cloud - before he left - had taken the man as something of a hero figure) – a photo including Tifa much to her surprise. A strange memento of a strange day – and still no hard decision whether she wanted to ask for a copy. Not as if she felt much for Zack – and Sephiroth's cold unnerved her.

However bad Sephiroth was on the way up the mountain was nothing compared to his descent, marching ahead, delays annoying him, near ignoring shouts to wait until Tifa could advise of the safe path now the rope-bridge was gone. Already one of the Infantry lost on the way-up, losing another on the way down would have been mortifying. Tifa shivered; the group's behaviour so callous. The remaining Infantryman barely spoke; neither Zack nor Sephiroth expressed anything beyond a fleeting concern for the lost man. She did not even know his name.

But despite the aloofness, at one point where Sephiroth seemed different – the one good part of the day after early excitement collided hard with the cool indifference of the first SOLDIER.

After the bridge collapsed and plunged the group into one of the shallower crevices littering the upper reaches of Mount Nibel (the missing man somewhere lost within them), the mountain trail lead Tifa to an unfamiliar route up the mountain. She stayed in the lead, forcing the others to move slow. Should have been unnerving under the scrutiny of someone like Sephiroth, but she was of no concern to him; all his attention was on the peak. The part of the day where he still listened to her instructions.

The path plunged into a cave-system for some distance before completing a meandering but usable trail up the reactor. Somehow overlooked or simply forgotten before she took up her career; the path doomed to irrelevance once the rope bridge spanned the same distance.

Unlike other caves infesting Mount Nibel – almost like an art-farm of small chambers – the faintly glowing and subtly shifting gleam of Materia coated the walls. Or to be more precise, Mako deposits. Likely untouched since the formation of the mountain, though their presence reinforced the oddity of Mount Nibel; the singular Mako-infused peak surrounded by what Shinra might deem dead rock. No liquid Mako in the first chamber – though without an experienced survey team impossible to be sure if the Mako on the walls was truly crystallised or barely contained a river of liquid Mako.

Prolonged contact with bare skin against the Mako walls would be less than advisable – and stopping to eat lunch would be a foolish proposition, but otherwise, there was no danger here. Tifa lead the group on- And stopped.

The next cave was roughly circular, Mako encrusted walls much like the previous. But a crystalline projection grew up from the floor. Beneath the glow and semi-opaque crystal was a crack in the stone. Over time the Mako had collected, cooled and built up, layer upon layer. Veins and strange tendrils of dull crystal crossed the floor, all culminating or perhaps arising from the structure in the centre.

Sephiroth named it a Mako fountain. He identified it and dismissed it. "The mountain is abundant with Mako; the fountain's appearance should be no surprise." He stalked towards the exit to the cave, halting, waiting for her to give the go ahead. "But it is somewhat miraculous I admit."

"It's beautiful-"

The delicate structure seemed near impossibly fragile and glowed with a strange green light. He called it a fountain, but the curving structure was reminiscent of flower petals spilling open. The heart of the flower was a sphere, colour shifting from red to yellow, yellow to green, green to blue. Tifa reached out to touch but stopped. "But the reactor-"

"Yes. The abundant Mako is the reason for the reactor."

"So, this flow- This fountain will dry up if it continues to suck up the energy?" A tragedy. The glow, the sense of life would be gone. Would the structure remain intact without the flow from beneath the ground to sustain it? And the sphere set in the centre: "Is there no way to save it?"

"None. It will be gone in time as all things are. Best to enjoy it while it exists." Sephiroth gestured. "The centre is of specific interest. Exceptionally rare to see Materia in its natural state."

Zack piped up with a question to Sephiroth's bemusement. Difficult to care; all Tifa's focus was on the detail of the strange Mako flower growing alone in this deserted cave. If it was truly at risk could she do anything about the Mako reactor? Sephiroth made some strange off-hand mention of Materia as the condensed knowledge and wisdom of the Ancients, some talk of a man named Hojo.

The surviving Infantryman seemed entranced by the fountain too; not paying much attention to the pair of SOLDIERs. Tifa shot him a grin. "So this is Ancient knowledge." She leaned in closer to peer at the centre and the natural Materia forming there. "Hope it's left alone." The Infantryman remained as blunt, impassive and silent as always – but did at least acknowledge her words with a nod.

A memory to sustain her later; when he prevented her from venturing inside the reactor during inspection. Before the rush down the mountain thanks to Sephiroth's inexplicable impatience – Zack able to offer little in the way of explanation as to a reason for his haste. Something inside the reactor had unnerved them both.

No matter; both SOLDIERs and their back-up would be leaving soon. With the reactor fixed, life should rapidly get back to normal. Fewer monster attacks, reduced Mako taint in the air. And after, Tifa could make a trip back to see the Mako fountain - or the Mako flower - alone. Something to see as much as she was able, until inevitably the reactor's reach extended far enough to snuff the light out of the beautiful, flower buried within the mountain, formed from Ancient knowledge.


End file.
